Volume 0, Episode 4
"─ How long are we supposed to wait here?"
"─ Until we rendezvous."
As the alien enemies drew closer, showering them with gunshots and grenade explosions, one half of the pair expressed displeasure after acknowledging the silence. The other responded with indifference, exchanging the spent magazine as they shot.
"It's not until we die, right?"
"─ Until we rendezvous."
With each repeated inquiry, it seemed as if thorns were growing in the tone of Nikke, who wore a beret. It was understandable that such a reaction would emerge after being asked the same thing over and over again.
"You saw it earlier, right!? The transport plane crashing!"
However, the discontent of the other half, who wore a beret and styled her flaxen hair into a bob, wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Even from this gathering point, the sight of the transport plane exploding in midair and plummeting, leaving a trail of black smoke, could be seen. The plane had crashed into the ruined buildings, and the black smoke rising from the crash site, accompanied by another explosion, suggested that there were likely no survivors. Indeed, that was a reasonable assumption.
In response to this argument, the other half of the pair let out a deep sigh and turned her crimson eyes toward the remains of the enemy they had just defeated, scattered beyond the mostly collapsed wall.
"─ There haven't been any reports of deaths yet."
That was the reason they were holding this position.
In return, the bob-cut brunette of the pair responded with a mix of frustration and exasperation.
"How long are we supposed to wait until the death reports come in? We've been waiting all this time, and there's been no contact whatsoever."
Abandoning this place would jeopardize the entire operation, which they understood. However, the possibility of the operation already having failed seemed more likely.
While they exchanged arguments, sudden footsteps reached the ears of the pair.
Before they could even shift their gaze, the barrels of the assault rifle AR Militaria and the grenade launcher RL Libertine Tail were aimed in that direction, fingers lightly resting on the triggers. It was clear that the two were quite accustomed to combat.
"─ We're allies! Don't shoot!"
"─ We're here to rendezvous!"
"Whoa! That suprised me!"
Nikke, dressed predominantly in blue with a machine gun in hand, and a tall young man with a Tetra Line assault rifle in hand and a backpack over his military uniform rushed toward them. The pair almost opened fire in panic, but quickly adjusted their aim and released their triggers.
"I'm Marian! We've rendezvoused with the commander!"
"...Huh? Really? Weren't you on the transport plane? You survived THAT explosion?"
As the two approached, sliding into the building as if gliding through a broken "service entrance" with excellent ventilation, the Nikke fixed her bob-cut flaxen hair and directed a skeptical gaze at them.
"...Nikke is one thing, but you... you're human, right?"
"Yeah."
"...Suspicious... Are you really the commander?"
Considering the chaos in the city-like streets, did they think anyone other than military personnel and soldiers would come here just to watch? With a furrowed brow, the young man thought to answer the question.
Still, there wasn't time to continue such exchanges indefinitely. To prove his identity, he loosened his tie and unbuttoned a few buttons on his white shirt beneath his jacket. He showed them two recognition tags hanging around his neck, and one of the bob-cut brunettes with reddish-brown hair stepped forward.
The instant she saw her approach, a pang of pain shot through his mind.
"─ Excuse me."
As the words were barely out, his crimson eyes began to glow. Then, with a slight delay...
"─ Commander recognition code accessed. Transfer of command authority for Squad 04-F completed."
The words spoken in a melodious voice, "Transfer of command authority," caused the other half of the bob-cut pair to start in bewilderment. It was undeniably abrupt so her reaction was understandable.
"Hey, Rapi! How could you be so reckless as to entrust command to someone whose identity we don't even know!?"
Certainly, the young man himself, his pain subsiding, nodded in agreement, but just then, something moved beyond the shattered window. Reflexively, he disengaged the safety of the assault rifle he was gripping.
"─!"
Seeing the young man's reaction up close, Nikke, the one referred to as Rapi, rise her crimson eyes to look up at him. She had to admit she was surprised. Nevertheless, there was no time to dwell on it.
"Rapture has arrived. At this moment, you become our commander. The previous commander is unable to issue orders, so there is no separate process for transferring command authority."
"...Not even a brief introduction, huh?"
Not available, he responded to her clear statement, and then he moved to the window, pointing the gun barrel outside.
His gaze was fixed on multiple Rapture-like entities, 300 meters away, moving among the blocks of dilapidated buildings. He directed his words to them.
"As you can see, time is of the essence. We'll talk after the fighting is over."
"Understood. Squad, gather."
Despite setting his backpack down, the young man, gun barrel still pointed outward, signaled with his left hand by raising it slightly above his head and spinning it in a circle, a sign to regroup.
The three figures, or three people, that Nikke who had seen the sign began to approach swiftly.
"The enemy is in that direction. At 11 o'clock. Suppress the enemies in front with the machine gun MG and the grenade launcher. Move out, follow me!"
With his backpack on the ground, he finished checking his ammunition before inserting the magazines and engaging the safety.
Seeing them gather, the young man, who had already arrived, led the way out of the building at a brisk pace. Following him, Marian hurriedly followed, but...
"─ Wait a second! Why HIM too!?"
He seemed to be just rushing out as if it was the most natural thing, but that was far from normal. Why was the supposed commander, a human, advancing with an assault rifle(NIKKE'S) in hand?
"─ Let's go!"
This could easily become a repeat of before. Worried about that, the two quickly followed their lead.
The commander they had been following was killed, or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he died through a carefully planned suicide. Despite knowing that small-caliber firearms were ineffective against Rapture, he had recklessly fired at them, inviting their counterattack.
As a result, the two had been left waiting at the rendezvous point without a commander.
That was still fine, but they couldn't let the commander die 'again'.
If they encountered the same situation, even if it meant dragging the young man, their commander, by the collar, they would force him to retreat.
With that determination in mind, they advanced, taking their positions according to the instructions from the commander who had already arrived.
Though worried about the coming battle, it began.
"─ Marian! Keep up the barrage! Grenades! Throw them at the enemies' faces!!"
What the hell's going on...?
"─ Don't let them flank us! Concentrate the machine gun MG and the grenades on the enemies in front! Move, follow me!"
What's going ...!?
"Cease fire! Cease fire! Squad, regroup! Report any casualties!!"
Anis, who have entered battle mode suddenly, watched in a daze as dozens of Rapture units that had suddenly appeared were turned into wreckage. Her gun aimed at the enemies, but she lowered it. She and Marian thought they could win with their combat skills and Rapi's, but they hadn't anticipated being able to slaughter the enemy so one-sidedly.
Moving to the side with Rapi, added with his gunfire, focusing on the enemies in front as he ordered. Anis followed Marian's directions and kept up the barrage.
"─ I'm Rapi, this is Anis. Thank you for your swift assistance despite the sudden request."
"Rapi and Anis, huh? I apologize for not properly introducing myself during the engagement. I didn't know your names... so I ended up using strange ways to refer to you."
The young man removed the magazine from the assault rifle, checked the remaining ammunition, and then reinserted it into the magazine well, securing the safety.
As far as could be seen, there was no significant damage. After receiving verbal reports from the gathering members and acknowledging no casualties, he let out a sigh of relief and rummaged through his breast pocket.
Unconsciously, he pulled out a cigarette, a belonging of the deceased pilot. He put one in his mouth and lit it with an oil lighter.
"By the way, why did you suddenly request the commander to surface? Could it be..."
After a brief self-introduction, when Marian asked, Anise responded succinctly. The death of the previous commander and the reason for it.
"You couldn't protect him... You both..."
"No, that's not it."
Anise countered Marian's remark with a raised eyebrow.
"We are here to protect the commander, no matter what, even at the cost of our lives. But... protecting someone who wants to die voluntarily is impossible."
That makes sense. While inwardly agreeing, the young man lit the cigarette with the oil lighter, which was a keepsake, all the while his thoughts turned uneasy.
Trying to protect someone who seems to want to die is likely to be nothing but a struggle. It seems like delaying their death would be the main challenge. He wondered if perhaps those words weren't directed at him, but the idea didn't ease his inner turmoil.
Frowning a little more, he held the freshly lit cigarette between his index and middle fingers of his left hand. Just as he felt a gaze from a lower angle, he turned his head and met the eyes that were looking up at him.
"May I ask your name, if you don't mind?"
"…I apologize for the delay in introducing myself. I'm Moore. Second Lieutenant Shaw Moore."
"Anis."
"Yeah, I'll look it up."
Prompted by Rapi, Anis took out a device from somewhere. While watching her tapping on the screen, he inhaled the purple smoke...
...and choked on it.
Doubling over, he coughed repeatedly. Seeing him in distress, Marian walked over and began to rub his back.
"Are you okay, Commander?"
"Yeah, cough... I'm fine..."
Thinking he was a smoker due to how naturally he had put the cigarette in his mouth, she was surprised by the exact opposite reaction. With Marian rubbing his back, he watched their interactions from the corner of his eye, but his attention was drawn to Anise's widened eyes as she looked at the result displayed on the screen of the device.
"What's wrong?"
"This Commander... seems like a complete newbie."
"Huh?"
"He graduated from the officer school just yesterday..."
Anis moved next to Rapi, showing her the device's screen.
Comparing the photos repeatedly displayed on the screen with the young man who was choking on the purple smoke, the face in the photo was identical. No matter how many times she compared them, it was the same. The date of graduation from the officer school was also the same: yesterday.
"Graduated yesterday...?"
"Yeah... cough... that's right..."
Even while choking, he nodded, likely due to his polite nature.
Although the documents proved he was a complete newcomer, considering the leadership he displayed earlier, Rapi couldn't shake the feeling of inconsistency.
In any case, this place is dangerous. After returning the device to Anise, despite her coughing, she urged the young man, who was still smoking the cigarette, to move.
Volume 0, Episode 4
"─ How long are we supposed to wait here?"
"─ Until we rendezvous."
As the alien enemies drew closer, showering them with gunshots and grenade explosions, one half of the pair expressed displeasure after acknowledging the silence. The other responded with indifference, exchanging the spent magazine as they shot.
"It's not until we die, right?"
"─ Until we rendezvous."
With each repeated inquiry, it seemed as if thorns were growing in the tone of Nikke, who wore a beret. It was understandable that such a reaction would emerge after being asked the same thing over and over again.
"You saw it earlier, right!? The transport plane crashing!"
However, the discontent of the other half, who wore a beret and styled her flaxen hair into a bob, wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Even from this gathering point, the sight of the transport plane exploding in midair and plummeting, leaving a trail of black smoke, could be seen. The plane had crashed into the ruined buildings, and the black smoke rising from the crash site, accompanied by another explosion, suggested that there were likely no survivors. Indeed, that was a reasonable assumption.
In response to this argument, the other half of the pair let out a deep sigh and turned her crimson eyes toward the remains of the enemy they had just defeated, scattered beyond the mostly collapsed wall.
"─ There haven't been any reports of deaths yet."
That was the reason they were holding this position.
In return, the bob-cut brunette of the pair responded with a mix of frustration and exasperation.
"How long are we supposed to wait until the death reports come in? We've been waiting all this time, and there's been no contact whatsoever."
Abandoning this place would jeopardize the entire operation, which they understood. However, the possibility of the operation already having failed seemed more likely.
While they exchanged arguments, sudden footsteps reached the ears of the pair.
Before they could even shift their gaze, the barrels of the assault rifle AR Militaria and the grenade launcher RL Libertine Tail were aimed in that direction, fingers lightly resting on the triggers. It was clear that the two were quite accustomed to combat.
"─ We're allies! Don't shoot!"
"─ We're here to rendezvous!"
"Whoa! That suprised me!"
Nikke, dressed predominantly in blue with a machine gun in hand, and a tall young man with a Tetra Line assault rifle in hand and a backpack over his military uniform rushed toward them. The pair almost opened fire in panic, but quickly adjusted their aim and released their triggers.
"I'm Marian! We've rendezvoused with the commander!"
"...Huh? Really? Weren't you on the transport plane? You survived THAT explosion?"
As the two approached, sliding into the building as if gliding through a broken "service entrance" with excellent ventilation, the Nikke fixed her bob-cut flaxen hair and directed a skeptical gaze at them.
"...Nikke is one thing, but you... you're human, right?"
"Yeah."
"...Suspicious... Are you really the commander?"
Considering the chaos in the city-like streets, did they think anyone other than military personnel and soldiers would come here just to watch? With a furrowed brow, the young man thought to answer the question.
Still, there wasn't time to continue such exchanges indefinitely. To prove his identity, he loosened his tie and unbuttoned a few buttons on his white shirt beneath his jacket. He showed them two recognition tags hanging around his neck, and one of the bob-cut brunettes with reddish-brown hair stepped forward.
The instant she saw her approach, a pang of pain shot through his mind.
"─ Excuse me."
As the words were barely out, his crimson eyes began to glow. Then, with a slight delay...
"─ Commander recognition code accessed. Transfer of command authority for Squad 04-F completed."
The words spoken in a melodious voice, "Transfer of command authority," caused the other half of the bob-cut pair to start in bewilderment. It was undeniably abrupt so her reaction was understandable.
"Hey, Rapi! How could you be so reckless as to entrust command to someone whose identity we don't even know!?"
Certainly, the young man himself, his pain subsiding, nodded in agreement, but just then, something moved beyond the shattered window. Reflexively, he disengaged the safety of the assault rifle he was gripping.
"─!"
Seeing the young man's reaction up close, Nikke, the one referred to as Rapi, rise her crimson eyes to look up at him. She had to admit she was surprised. Nevertheless, there was no time to dwell on it.
"Rapture has arrived. At this moment, you become our commander. The previous commander is unable to issue orders, so there is no separate process for transferring command authority."
"...Not even a brief introduction, huh?"
Not available, he responded to her clear statement, and then he moved to the window, pointing the gun barrel outside.
His gaze was fixed on multiple Rapture-like entities, 300 meters away, moving among the blocks of dilapidated buildings. He directed his words to them.
"As you can see, time is of the essence. We'll talk after the fighting is over."
"Understood. Squad, gather."
Despite setting his backpack down, the young man, gun barrel still pointed outward, signaled with his left hand by raising it slightly above his head and spinning it in a circle, a sign to regroup.
The three figures, or three people, that Nikke who had seen the sign began to approach swiftly.
"The enemy is in that direction. At 11 o'clock. Suppress the enemies in front with the machine gun MG and the grenade launcher. Move out, follow me!"
With his backpack on the ground, he finished checking his ammunition before inserting the magazines and engaging the safety.
Seeing them gather, the young man, who had already arrived, led the way out of the building at a brisk pace. Following him, Marian hurriedly followed, but...
"─ Wait a second! Why HIM too!?"
He seemed to be just rushing out as if it was the most natural thing, but that was far from normal. Why was the supposed commander, a human, advancing with an assault rifle(NIKKE'S) in hand?
"─ Let's go!"
This could easily become a repeat of before. Worried about that, the two quickly followed their lead.
The commander they had been following was killed, or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he died through a carefully planned suicide. Despite knowing that small-caliber firearms were ineffective against Rapture, he had recklessly fired at them, inviting their counterattack.
As a result, the two had been left waiting at the rendezvous point without a commander.
That was still fine, but they couldn't let the commander die 'again'.
If they encountered the same situation, even if it meant dragging the young man, their commander, by the collar, they would force him to retreat.
With that determination in mind, they advanced, taking their positions according to the instructions from the commander who had already arrived.
Though worried about the coming battle, it began.
"─ Marian! Keep up the barrage! Grenades! Throw them at the enemies' faces!!"
What the hell's going on...?
"─ Don't let them flank us! Concentrate the machine gun MG and the grenades on the enemies in front! Move, follow me!"
What's going ...!?
"Cease fire! Cease fire! Squad, regroup! Report any casualties!!"
Anis, who have entered battle mode suddenly, watched in a daze as dozens of Rapture units that had suddenly appeared were turned into wreckage. Her gun aimed at the enemies, but she lowered it. She and Marian thought they could win with their combat skills and Rapi's, but they hadn't anticipated being able to slaughter the enemy so one-sidedly.
Moving to the side with Rapi, added with his gunfire, focusing on the enemies in front as he ordered. Anis followed Marian's directions and kept up the barrage.
"─ I'm Rapi, this is Anis. Thank you for your swift assistance despite the sudden request."
"Rapi and Anis, huh? I apologize for not properly introducing myself during the engagement. I didn't know your names... so I ended up using strange ways to refer to you."
The young man removed the magazine from the assault rifle, checked the remaining ammunition, and then reinserted it into the magazine well, securing the safety.
As far as could be seen, there was no significant damage. After receiving verbal reports from the gathering members and acknowledging no casualties, he let out a sigh of relief and rummaged through his breast pocket.
Unconsciously, he pulled out a cigarette, a belonging of the deceased pilot. He put one in his mouth and lit it with an oil lighter.
"By the way, why did you suddenly request the commander to surface? Could it be..."
After a brief self-introduction, when Marian asked, Anise responded succinctly. The death of the previous commander and the reason for it.
"You couldn't protect him... You both..."
"No, that's not it."
Anise countered Marian's remark with a raised eyebrow.
"We are here to protect the commander, no matter what, even at the cost of our lives. But... protecting someone who wants to die voluntarily is impossible."
That makes sense. While inwardly agreeing, the young man lit the cigarette with the oil lighter, which was a keepsake, all the while his thoughts turned uneasy.
Trying to protect someone who seems to want to die is likely to be nothing but a struggle. It seems like delaying their death would be the main challenge. He wondered if perhaps those words weren't directed at him, but the idea didn't ease his inner turmoil.
Frowning a little more, he held the freshly lit cigarette between his index and middle fingers of his left hand. Just as he felt a gaze from a lower angle, he turned his head and met the eyes that were looking up at him.
"May I ask your name, if you don't mind?"
"…I apologize for the delay in introducing myself. I'm Moore. Second Lieutenant Shaw Moore."
"Anis."
"Yeah, I'll look it up."
Prompted by Rapi, Anis took out a device from somewhere. While watching her tapping on the screen, he inhaled the purple smoke...
...and choked on it.
Doubling over, he coughed repeatedly. Seeing him in distress, Marian walked over and began to rub his back.
"Are you okay, Commander?"
"Yeah, cough... I'm fine..."
Thinking he was a smoker due to how naturally he had put the cigarette in his mouth, she was surprised by the exact opposite reaction. With Marian rubbing his back, he watched their interactions from the corner of his eye, but his attention was drawn to Anise's widened eyes as she looked at the result displayed on the screen of the device.
"What's wrong?"
"This Commander... seems like a complete newbie."
"Huh?"
"He graduated from the officer school just yesterday..."
Anis moved next to Rapi, showing her the device's screen.
Comparing the photos repeatedly displayed on the screen with the young man who was choking on the purple smoke, the face in the photo was identical. No matter how many times she compared them, it was the same. The date of graduation from the officer school was also the same: yesterday.
"Graduated yesterday...?"
"Yeah... cough... that's right..."
Even while choking, he nodded, likely due to his polite nature.
Although the documents proved he was a complete newcomer, considering the leadership he displayed earlier, Rapi couldn't shake the feeling of inconsistency.
In any case, this place is dangerous. After returning the device to Anise, despite her coughing, she urged the young man, who was still smoking the cigarette, to move.
